The Gilmer Buckeye 7on7 team had their most impressive outing last Saturday since winning the Gilmer Tournament on May 18. The Bucks went 2-2-1 against the most talented opponents they have faced all of this 7on7 season. Gilmer was one of only 24 teams in the entire State of Texas to be invited to the prestigious Nike Football Festival at Craig Ranch between McKinney and Allen.

The defense, which has improved each week, turned in a stellar performance against some of the best teams in the state. The offense is also beginning to gel as a group, and makes the upcoming regular football season filled with nothing but optimism. There are a lot of new faces with little or no varsity experience, but to see this offense, Buckeye fans can expect nothing short of another very successful year.

Gilmer faced Throckmorton, current State Class A Division I 6-Man Champs in their first game, and rallied from a 26-41 deficit with less than five minutes remaining in the game to garner a 41-41 tie on the last play of the game. What made that even more impressive was the fact that Throckmorton played with one more player on the field than they are used to having, which gave them a huge advantage.

The second game was against Denton, and Gilmer won that contest 41-36. The Buckeyes fell just short in their third game with a narrow 33-35 defeat at the hands of Frisco Lone Star, and finished Pool play with a 1-1-1 record that was good enough to get them into the Championship Bracket.

They took on perennial power Euless Trinity in the first playoff game, and shocked the 5A powerhouse by jumping out to a 40-9 lead before winning the contest 46-26, moving them on to a final game against Arlington. The Bux led 18-11 at the half, but Arlington came on strong in the second half and Gilmer fell short by the score of 24-29.

Allen won the tournament by defeating Hebron in the Championship game.

It was a VERY GOOD showing for the Buckeyes, and 7on7 Coach Rebel Jackson was pleased with the outcome when we spoke with him after his team completed play.

“We’ve talked a lot about how good our defense is, and with the way they awarded points, five points for an interception and three points for a stop, our defense scored a lot of points today. I think of our nine receivers, only three have played varsity, and we showed today that we’re making phenomenal progress on first and second down, and then we don’t convert on third or fourth when it really matters, so a lot of growing pains, but that’s why we’re out here, to get better. (It was) a great day; Nike does a great job. It’s just fun to make the trip and get away and reward the kids for their efforts this year.”

We asked Coach Jackson if he didn’t feel very good about his team’s chances to qualify for the State 7on7 Tournament back home at Buckeye Stadium this Saturday, in their final tournament appearance before State.

“There’s not anybody there that we can’t beat, and there’s not anybody there that can’t beat us. We’re kinda up and down. We played Arlington today, who had beaten DeSoto, and we had them beat until we gave up a touchdown there at the end. It’s the maturity level; we’re very young. We’ve played a lot of 7on7. It is a lot more important to be here playing than sitting the week out. The kids will be excited. They understand it’s their last chance to qualify, so I think they’ll give me great effort, and they always do, and hopefully next Saturday’s big for us.”

Saturday’s SQT at Buckeye Stadium begins at 9 a.m. If you haven’t had a chance to see the team in action thus far, make every effort to attend and get a small taste of the upcoming 2013 football season. You will definitely enjoy the outing!

This video is of games, in order, against Throckmorton, Denton, Frisco Lone Star, Euless Trinity and Arlington.